It’s important that all of us be conscientious about protecting the environment – both on a large scale and on the smaller scale of our local community and home. So while voting for a green-leaning politician will do some help, it won’t do much for your local area in the short term.
There are choices you can make in your day-to-day life that will, however, have a positive impact. If you want to decorate your garden too, hurrah! Here are some ways you can turn your garden into a gorgeous and eco-friendly haven.
Natural garlands
Christmas is coming up, but you can have garlands year round if you like. Why not! Go for a walk and pick up things like pine-cones or pretty autumn leaves, and string them up on some twine. These can be hung across a fence, from a tree or anywhere in your garden you feel like decorating. If you like, you can source some bio-paint and add some colour.
If you can’t find anything nearby your home, you can also use this cheap and easy alternative. Hang out some citrus slices out to dry, and they will make beautiful garlands, too. Oranges, grapefruit and lemons work great for this. They look beautiful and smell amazing too. You can hang them in the garden for some extra colour and life.
Decorate with moss
Did you know that you can decorate with a living plant, namely moss? There are a few steps involved, but you can make moss “paint” by blending cleaned moss with yogurt. This is then painted on a smooth and clean surface (a fence might work well), and must be moistened or painted over every day for about two weeks. After that, you have living art!
You can also be creative with your moss use and make moss stockings for Christmas, or other sculptures by using a pre-existing structure and attaching moss to it. It’s a great activity for kids to get involved with as it uses a living creature and they must be patient and diligent to see it grow.
Use burlap
Whatever you’re making, it’ll be more eco-conscious to use burlap over other synthetic materials. It’s cheap and biodegradable – natural materials are woven together to make it.
Select ones without dye, bleach or chemical finishes for use in the garden. Disguise ugly pots by covering them in burlap. There are tons of DIY decorations you can make with burlap, from holiday season decorations to curtains, signs, lettering on signs, placemats and others. Pinterest is your friend!
Paint using bio-paint
There are many examples of garden murals – ranging from the super easy to the more complex. Your result will depend on your skill level, so try to choose one that matches your abilities. Of course, you will have to look for paint that is environmentally friendly. Your local hardware store will be able to help you with that!
You can also paint a bunch of little rocks for decoration – either as animals (a caterpillar is a charming project you can do with children) or as letters to spell the names of plants. This is also fantastic for families with children, as they will be able to learn as they paint which is nothing short of wonderful.
Re-purpose, re-use and rejoice!
Repurposing isn’t always the right way to go – tires, plastics and some old furniture could contain chemicals that would be detrimental to your garden. However, if you carefully consider the items you reuse in your garden, you will be on the right path to including biodegradable decorations in your garden.
Ask your neighbours, friends and family if they have anything they want to get rid of. If you find things you could make a garden decoration with, fantastic! If not, get creative with natural materials and use those to decorate. Try to incorporate eco-friendly practices into your DIY decorations and you’ll be doing yourself and the environment a favour.
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